


Balance

by irisbleufic



Category: Toy Soldiers (1991)
Genre: Boarding School, M/M, Sneaking Out, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-09-01
Updated: 2003-09-01
Packaged: 2018-01-01 21:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irisbleufic/pseuds/irisbleufic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A midnight excursion to the Regis School bell tower (and then some).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written and posted to LJ in September of 2003.

Joey loved mornings. A little too much for his own good, maybe, or in the very least a little too much for _Billy’s_. They couldn’t share a bed often, but they’d managed it enough for Joey to know that when Billy groaned and burrowed against him, clinging and squeezing his eyes shut against even the most pathetic sliver of sunlight, that there would be no getting up for at least another hour. On Saturdays, anyway. The occasional school morning resulted in a lot of kiss-muddled coaxing

Not to say that Joey wasn’t a night-owl in his own right, but Billy—Billy _loved_ whiling away the hours past midnight to a truly ridiculous extent. If Phil was there, he talked until Joey couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, or suggested crazy shit or pestered anyone who would listen with questions about the next day’s homework (usually—no, _always_ —Joey). 

If Phil wasn’t there, well, that generally indicated a weekend he was home or absent due to extenuating circumstances (like his great aunt’s funeral back in October). Those were the nights Joey gladly stayed up. After all, intermittent sex from ten p.m. till two a.m. definitely had its perks, especially if it left him melted enough to sleep in as long as Billy liked to.

(The occasional school morning occurrence of same resulted in a lot of kiss-muddled cussing.)

Every once in a while, though, Joey couldn’t sleep. Probably would’ve sounded fucking crazy to admit that he tossed and turned by choice. It was better than lying there half dozing and jumpy, as Joey’s restlessness usually tended to leave him. Those were the nights when Billy heard him rolling around and started tapping lightly on the underside of Joey’s bunk, sometimes familiar song-rhythms and sometimes nonsense. Never woke Phil up, not once. Sometimes, Billy whispered into the dark about this prank or that lame-ass conversation from somewhere earlier in the day, and Joey would roll over, close his eyes, and answer the general vicinity of the window with a drowsy smile.

Billy always heard him.

"Hey, where you going?"

Joey froze on the ladder, ducking his head to peer through the slats. He’d thought Billy was asleep.

Billy blinked sleepily, making a huge effort at keeping his eyes open. "Joey?"

"Dunno," Joey whispered. "Out?"

"Without me?" Dammit, that fucking pout. "Out _where?_ "

"Bell tower, maybe." Joey climbed to the floor and folded his arms against the ladder. "And no, dickhead," he added, softer still, "not since you’re awake."

Billy grinned, bright enough to cut through the darkness. "Gotcha."

November nights were always freezing, quiet. Joey used to slip out the back door at home and watch the snow fall, knowing it would be gone before morning. At least the snow up here knew how to stay put, but the catch was that it didn’t start falling till January, so there wasn’t much to look at after dark unless you lucked out and some evening hailstorm iced the grass enough to gleam in the moonlight. 

It wasn’t one of those nights. The stone steps felt cold even through the soles of Joey’s shoes; the only warm thing about the quiet, cautious journey was Billy touching his shoulder or his hip as they rounded deserted corners, or holding his hand when the coast was clear. They’d done this before, too.

The moon was full enough to show smoky puffs of breath even in the darkened tower. Joey sat down in the archway and wrapped his arms around himself, staring out across the quad. _Note to self: windbreaker not warm enough_. Billy stepped up close beside him, leaning against the stone wall and wrapping an arm around Joey’s waist. _Mm, better_. But Billy had to be freezing in that t-shirt and sweat pants. He hadn’t bothered with socks before shoving his feet into his sneakers, either.

"Fucking cold this year," Joey breathed, watching his words turn to ice.

"Not usually this bad, huh?" Billy nuzzled his neck, all warm breath and hot tongue.

Joey sagged into it a little, then flinched. "Not till next month, anyway."

Billy wrapped slid his other arm around Joey, hugging tight. "I won’t let you fall."

"I know," Joey said, glancing down. "It always feels like..."

"No shit," Billy chuckled. "You never see me sitting there, do you?"

Joey thought about that for a second. "No." He turned his head to look at Billy, involuntarily nuzzling his cheek. "You’re afraid of heights, aren’t you?"

"Depends," Billy said, brushing his lips against Joey’s temple. "Ferris wheels and shit, no. This kind of thing, definitely." He glanced over Joey’s shoulder, pulling him in tighter. "Long way down."

Joey tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. "That’s reassuring, I guess. No copping out when we go to the spring fair!"

"Never," Billy murmured. One soft kiss, then another.

Joey closed his eyes. "Guess I’ve never been afraid," he whispered, turning his head some more until he could touch Billy’s lips with his own. They must’ve been blue by now.

"Of heights?" Billy kissed him on the mouth this time.

"No, falling," Joey said, resting his head on Billy’s shoulder. "Are you?"

"Nope," Billy said, tucking his chin over the top of Joey’s head. "But somebody’s gotta do the catching."


End file.
